Process for engraving printing rollers



P 14, 1931- J. DYER PROCESS FOR ENGRAVING PRINTING ROLLERS Filed Oct. 29, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 1' ilil l i iiii INVENTOR B .z/ww, 7 ATTORNEYS April 14, 1931. J. DYER 1,800,342

PROCESS FOR ENGRAVING PRINTING ROLLERS Filed Oct; 29, 1929 5 Sheet-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATT RNEYJ April 14, 1931. J. DYER 1,800,342

PROCESS FOR ENGRAVING PRINTING ROLLERS Filed Oct.' 29, 1929 s Sheets-Sheet 5' M i i w" W $1.

INVENTOR ATTORN EY$ Patented Apr. 14, 1931 PATENT OFFICE JQSEIPH DYER, OF LONG BEACH, NEW YORK- LPROCiESSFOR ENGBAVING PRINTING- ROLLERS Application filed October 29, 1929. Serial No. 403,177.

This invention relates to the art of engraving metal rollers used for printing web material such as fabrics and the like and has an object to provide a process and apparatus for carrying out said process by means of which designs and the like which it is desired to print may be transferred rapidly and accurately to metal rollers such as are com monly used for printing purposes.

Two methods of placing designs on rollers are in common use at the present time. First, the rollers may be hand engraved by skilled engravers who copy-the design as originally made on paper with ordinary engravers tools.

This process is costly and time consuming.

Weeks and even months in the case of a complicated design are consumed in the preparation of a single roller.

p Second, the rollers may be prepared by the i use of pantograph machines by means of which the design is traced on a coated roller by hand from an enlarged drawing, the roller being afterwards etched to secure the necessary intaglio effect. This process, while somewhat more rapid than hand engraving,

is relatively slow and has the further disadvantage that the kind of designs which can be reproduced is strictly limited.

According to the present process the originaldesign is transferred directly to the roller as hereinafter described .without the use of either hand engraving or hand tracing, with the result that not only is the transferring operation accomplished with great rapidity and accuracy, but also it is possible to transfer every line and every gradation of shade and shadow, exactly as that line, shade or shadow appeared in the original drawing. For convenience of description, the process will be described as practiced in the production of a single color design, but as will be hereinafter explained, the process is also adapted for use in the production of multicolored designs.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

As an initial step in the process, the design to be reproduced is preferably placed upon I a sheet or plate of transparent or translucent,

waterproof, non-shrinking, non-stretching material. Transparent or translucent pyroxylin sheets have been found to be admirably'suited for the purpose and are preferably employed, although glass or other transparent or translucent materials which do not stretch materially under changes of temperature, moisture, etc. may also be used. The design may either be drawn directly on the said transparent or translucent sheet or plate or may be transferred thereto by a suitable to photographic process.- If the design is to be drawn directly on the said sheet or plate, one surface thereof must be roughened, as fQI QXi ample, in the case of pyroxylin sheets, by

pressing a uniform pattern into the surface withan intaglio or cameo plate,.or by graining the surface with marbles and sand in the usual manner employed by lithographers, or by first impressing a pattern into the surface and then graining the patterned surface.

As an alternative method of providing a roughened surface, one surface of the sheet or plate may be coated with asolution of silicate of soda, which may be either flowed on or applied with a spray and which dries with a suitable roughened surface. n

The particular method of roughening which is selected in any particular case depends'somewhat upon the texture desired in the finish work. Graining alone provides a surface on which soft and very delicate shade effects may be secured with the same facility as on smooth surfaced paper. For other kinds of work best results may be .secured 'with. impressed patterns. Various half tone patterns, dots, stipples, wavelines or other patterns may be selected as desired depending upon the character of the work to be done. Coating with silicate of soda produces in general a sti-ppled effect.

The surface thus roughened may be drawrr, written or printed upon or otherwise marked in much the same manner as a similar repre- I sentat'ion might be made on'paper or a lithographic stone, for example, the roughened surface of the sheet being adapted to receive pencil, charcoal, ink, crayon, or other impressions in the same manner as paper.

On the other hand, -if it is desired to employ a phot'ographicprocess, the design may first be made on paper, and one surface of p the transparent or translucent sheet or plate may be sensitized and the design reproduced thereon by ordinary photographic processes.

After the said sheet or plate is prepared, the design thereon is transferred to a flat sensitized surface such as a metal plate, pref erably of zinc. This may conveniently be accomplished by laying the transparent or translucent sheet or plate face to face with the sensitized zinc plate and then exposing the assembled plates to light. Subsequently, the exposed zinc plate is coated with ink and is then washed with water. As will be unr derstood, the ink adheres to those portions of the zinc plate which have been exposed to light but is readily washed from the unexposed portions which were protected from the light by the opaque portions of the design on the transparent or translucent sheet, the result being that the zinc plate becomes an exact negative of the original design.

This negative zinc plate may then be etched slightly by the application of a mild etching acid which attacks the uncoated zinc surfaces forming the design, but has no effect onthe ink coated surfaces thereof. Thus a negative intaglio plate is provided.

From this intaglio plate ink impressions are printed on transfer paper. The plate may be conditioned for making such impressions by successive applications of water and ink, the ink adhering to the previously inked port-ions of the plate, and the water protecting the etched surfaces from the ink. A plurality of these printsare thus made on transfer paper in order to secure the desired repetition of the design, it being understood that the dimensions of the original design on the transparent or translucent sheet or plate should be aliquot parts of the dimensions of the printing surface of the roller to which it is to be finally transferred. For

example, if the roller is 16 in circumference" the design should be 2, 4 or 8, in width. If the roller is 48 in length, the design should be 2, 8, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16 or 24" in length.

The printed transfer papers are then assembled face up upon a flat surface in such manner as to secure the desired repetition of the design over an area suflicient to cover the 'entireareavof the roller, and when this is done, a large metal plate, preferably zinc, of an area suflicient to cover the assembled transfer sheets is placed in face to face contact therewith and subjected to suflicient pressure to cause the assembled transfer papers to adhere to the zinc plate. The back of the transfer paper is then wet with water, and after being saturated sufficiently,

the paper may be peeled from the plate, leaving, however, an ink impression thereon. This zinc plate is then etched slightly with a mild etching acid which attacks the uncoated zinc surfaces but does not affect the ink coated surfaces, the result being the production of a negative intaglio plate of an View Fi ure 2 is a side elevation and Fig v ure 3 is a longitudinal section.

Referring to the drawings, the press 00mprises a frame 1 supported upon legs 2 and having bed plates 3 adjustably supported upon the frame. Carrier on the frame and extending transversely thereacross is a traveller 4 having rollers 5 which rest upon track 6. Carried upon the traveller 4 is a pinion 7 which is arranged to engage rack teeth 8 located upon the upper side of the frame. Pinion 7 is carried on a shaft 9 which projects beyond the ends of the traveller 4 and carries thereon a handle 10 by means of which the pinion may be rotated. As will be observed, rotation of the pinion will cause the traveller to move. longitudinally along the frame 1.

Also mounted on the traveller 4 is a, drum 11 carried on shaft 12, which said shaft is provided with gears 13 which also engage the rack teeth. 8. Thus, as the traveller is caused to move longitudinally of the frame, the drum 11 is caused to rotate. The-drum 11 is adapted to carry a rubber blanket 14 which is wrapped around the outer face of the drum and is secured at its ends to the in wardly projecting flanges 15.

Also mounted on the traveller 4 is a roller 20 having a shaft 21 which is received in blocks 22 which are slidably mounted in slots 23 formed in the ends of the traveller 4.

The roller 20 is the printing roller, preferably of copper,-to which it is desired to transfer the design, the said roller being afterwards etched and used in a printing press in the usual manner. In order that the said rollers may be easily inserted and removed from the press, the slots 23 are closed by gates 24 which are pivotally mounted on the ends of the traveller 4, and set screws 25 are provided by means of which the outer surfaces of the roller may be pressed into contact with the outer surface'of the rubber blanket 14 on the drum 11. The set screws may be adjusted to provide any desired pressure between the contact surfaces. The contact thus established between the roller and the rubber blanket may be sufiicient to cause the roller to rotate as the drum rotates, but it is preferable to positively drive the roller 20 in order to prevent slippage between the surfaces. This may be conveniently accomplished by means of gear 26 mounted on shaft 12, these gears being of a size to cause the The large zinc plate .is now conditioned for'making'an impression by successive applications of water and ink as previously described in connection with the small zinc plate, thev ink adhering to the previously inked portions of the plate and the water protecting the etched surfaces from the ink.

After being thus conditioned, the zinc plate, designated in the drawings by the numeral 28, is laid face up upon the bed plate 3, and with the roller 20 moved to a position out of contact with the rubber blanket 14, the traveller 4 is moved to cause the rubber blanket to contact with the inked surface of the zinc plate 28, thus, providing an ink impression on the. rubber blanket. The roller 20 is then moved into contact with the rubber blanket by means of the set screws and the two are then rotated while held thus in contact until a complete rotation of the roller 20 has been effected. As will be understood, this results in placing on the copper roller 20 an ink impression received from the rubber blanket, this ink impression being a negative of the original design. Since the width of the zinc plate impression on the rubber blanket. is preferably equal to the circumference of the 97* roller, it will beapparent that the impre sion on the roller will be continuous.

The metal roller is then removed from-the, press and is brushed with fine powdered resin which-adheres to the ink surfaces after which the ink is caused to dry and set by application of heat. Thereafter the roller may be etched by the application of suitable etching acids which attack the uncoated surfaces of the roller but are ineffective upon the ink coated surfaces. Thus an intaglio impression of the continuous design is obtained on the metal roller and the roller is adapted to be used directly in printing presses.

For the production of multi-colored designs, the same process is followed, although it will be understood that each color to be re produced is separated out and drawn or otherwise produced iypon one of the translucent or transparent sheets or plates which were described hereinbefore. The process is carried through separately for each color and a separate copper roller is made for each color, and the separate rollers are used in printing machines'in the usual manner.

It will be understood that the invention may be variously modified and embodied within the scope of the sub-joined claims.

I claim as my invention 1. Process for engraving printing rollers which comprises placing a design on a trans-- lucent sheet or plate, the dimensions of said design being aliquot parts of the dimensions of the printing surface ofsaid roller, photographing said design in the same dimensions on a sensitized plate, developing said plate with ink, etching said plate, making a plurality of prints from said plate on transfer.

paper, assembling said prints for repetition, transferring said assembled prints to a large plate, the area of said assembled prints being the same as the area of the printing surface of said roller, printing on a rubber blanket from said plate, and transferring said rubber blanket impression directly to said roller.

2. Process for engraving printing rollers which comprises placing a design on a translucent sheet or plate, the dimensions of said design being aliquot parts of the dimensions of the printing surface of said roller, photographing said design in the same dimensions on a sensitized plate, developing said plate with ink, etching said plate, making a plurality of prints from said plate on transfer paper, assembling said prints for repetition, transferring said assembled prints to a large plate, the area of said assembled prints being the same as thearea of the printing surface of said roller, printing on a rubber blanket from said plate, transferring said rubber blanket impression directly to said roller and etching said roller.

3. Process for engraving printing rollers which comprises placing a design on a translucent sheet or plate, photographing said design on a plat sensitized surface, developing said surface with ink, etching said surface, making a plurality of prints from said surface on transfer paper, assembling said prints for repetition, transferring said prints to a large flat surface, etching said surface, printing on a rubber blanket from said surface, and transferring said rubber blanket impression directly to said roller by rolling the two together.

4. Process for engraving printing rollers which comprises placing a design on a translucent sheet or plate, photographing said design on a fiat sensitized surface,'developing said surface with ink, etching said surface, making a plurality of prints from said surface on transfer paper, assembling said prints for repetition, transferring said prints to a large flat surface, etching said surface, printing on a rubber blanket from said surface, transferring said rubber blanket impression directly to said roller by-rolling the twotogether and etching said roller.

5. Process for engraving printing rollers which comprises etching a design on a flat surface, making a plurality of prints from said surface on transfer paper, assembling said prints for'repetition, transferring said prints to a large fiat surface, etching said surface, printing on a rubber blanket from said surface, and transferring said rubber blanket impression directly to said roller by rolling the two together.

6. The process for engraving printing rollers which includes producing a design on rollers a fiat surface, making a plurality of reproductions of said surface, transferring said reproductions in assembled relation to a large fiat surface, etching said last surface to produce a printing medium, printing on a rubber blanket from said medium, and transferring said rubber blanket impression to a printing roller by rolling the blanket and printing roller together.

7. The process for engraving printing rollers which includes producing a design on a fiat surface, making a plurality of reproductions in assembled relation to a large flat surface, etching said last surface to produce a printing medium, and transferring the de sign on the last surface to a printing roller.

8. The process for engraving printing rollers which includes producing a design on a .flat surface, making a'plurality of reproductions in assembled relation to a large flat sur-" face, etching said last surface to produce a printing medium, printing from the last mentioned surface on a transfer surface,

printing from the transfer surface on a print-,

ing roller, and etching said printing roller.

9. The process for engraving printing rollers which includes producing a series of de sign reproductions, assembling said reproductions on a single surface, etching said surface to produce a printing medium, printing on a rubber blanket from said mediums, and transferring said rubber blanket impression to a printing roller by rolling the blanket and roller together.

10. The process for engraving printing which includes producing a series of design reproductions, assembling said reproductions on a single surface, etching said surface to produce a printing medium, and transferring the design on the last surface to a printing roller; F

11. The process for engraving printing rollers which includes producing a series of design reproductions, assembling said repro? ductions on a single surface, etching said surface to produce a printing medium, printing from the last mentioned surface on-a transfer surface, printing from the transfer surface on a printing roller, and etching said printing roller.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 24th day of October, 1929.

JOSEPH DYER. 

